Since Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States in January, civil liberties have been threatened. Because US law does not give them the same protections as US citizens, the Trump administration has primarily targeted more vulnerable groups, including immigrants, tourists, and non-American activists.
Some immigrants and tourists have been stranded for a while at the border. They have been detained in some cases because of Trump-related social media posts. What should a person be prepared for when they encounter US immigration agents, according to the question?
Entry points
Trump’s crackdown targets people at risk when they cross the US border.
Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese physician and assistant professor at Brown University, was detained by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as she attempted to re-enter the country in March, and she was eventually deported after agents allegedly found Hezbollah-related photos on her phone. She tried to explain to the organization before being eventually sent to Lebanon that she had no idea she was associated with the paramilitary group and that she did not.
Because Customs and Border Protection has more authority than regular law enforcement, according to Tom Bowman, policy counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). He claims that they are permitted to search people’s electronic devices “without a warrant or probable cause.”
They cannot refuse you entry to the country if you are a citizen because they won’t let you unlock your phone. According to Bill Budington, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), they may seize the phone, but they can’t prevent you from entering. “It might be wise to comply with any requests made by customers and border enforcement if you are at risk of deportation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce the amount of data you’re carrying with you.”
According to Bowman, “some travelers choose to restrict the data they can bring across the border.” “That might involve using a travel-only device, deleting sensitive apps and files entirely, and storing important information in the cloud and logging out of all accounts.” People use full-disk encryption to protect their contents before attempting to cross the border and shut down devices completely.
Students who support Palestine have been targeted by the ICE, and it frequently uses social media to do so.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri in March as he returned home after performing a Ramadan iftar. Suri’s lawyers claimed that Suri, who was born in India and was on a student visa while residing in the US, was “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” which he denied.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services had previously announced that it would check the social media accounts of people who were applying for permanent residency and those who were affiliated with educational institutions for “antisemitic activity.”
punishing protest
The Trump administration is currently punishing those who protest, including non-citizens, even though it has not yet invoked the Insurrection Act.
One of the many instances of similar cases is the administration’s recent efforts to deport a student activist named Mahmoud Khalil from Columbia University because of his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.
Daniel Solove, a professor of intellectual property and technology law at George Washington University, says, “I think people should be very concerned.” The government can use facial recognition and AI-assisted surveillance to systematically identify and track protesters because “we live in a surveillance society.” The government is already pursuing protesters, according to reports.
Momodou Taal, a student and activist at Cornell University, recently revoked his student visa to avoid deportation. ICE has also targeted Yonseo Chung, a student, activist, and legal permanent resident who immigrated from South Korea at the age of 7.
According to Bowman, federal agents may use geolocation, facial recognition, social media, and video surveillance to track protesters. He claims that people who use photos and videos to document protests can unintentionally identify those who attended a particular demonstration. This makes it important to be watchful when using their devices.
When traveling to a protest, turning your phone into airplane mode is one of the most basic protection. You won’t send your data in real time, Budington says. With offline maps, you can still navigate streets. Apple Maps and Google Maps both have methods for doing that.
Because of the encryption that comes with using messaging apps like Signal during protests, protesters can also communicate via SMS. Some people advise leaving your phone at home alone, but you might want it if you need to keep track of wrongful police actions in case of an emergency.
People who enter the country or attend protests can take steps to lessen the risk of them being targeted by the government, though it is essentially impossible to prevent all government snooping and keep one’s data completely secure 100% of the time.
Americans are increasingly aware of their need for privacy and are looking for ways to safeguard themselves. According to Buddington, people now seem much more concerned with privacy than they did ten or five years ago.
